Efram Sera-Shriar

It is my great pleasure to share the cover for my new book **PSYCHIC INVESTIGATORS** which was published in June 2022 with the University of Pittsburgh Press. More details here: https://upittpress.org/books/9780822947073/

I've just been asked whether I'd be interested in doing a pub talk that engages the question: "Are ghosts real?" Of course I'm interested!

This is another wonderful CFP: "Discarded Biological Ideas in Scientific Fiction, 1825-1925" Deadline for submissions: 18 January 2027 Details 👇 www.bsls.ac.uk/2026/10/call...

Looks like a fun conference on fan studies! Deadline for Submissions: 15 January 2027

My little sleeping angel...

Some fun news for the Halloween season, the podcast episode I did with Tumble “Are Ghosts Real?” has been turned into a Yoto card for Halloween: eu.yotoplay.com/products/tum... You can also listen for free here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ_Z...

📣CALL FOR PAPERS📣 'Folklore and the Natural World': The Folklore Society’s Annual Conference 2027. 11-13 June 2027, The Cut Conference Centre, Shrewsbury. Deadline for proposals: Sunday 13 December 2026 www.folklore-society.com/event/save-t...

An exciting Gothic conference that I'm co-organising with Strawberry Hill House and a few other organisations, to be held at Strawberry Hill next June. Please circulate the CFP far and wide: www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/gothic-confe...

I've learned a fantastic new word today "animadvert," which means to criticise, censure, or make harsh, disapproving remarks about someone or something. Very useful in today's world. I just want to share it with you all.

Just a friendly reminder that Curran Fellowship applications are due next week on 15 October! Open to all researchers, Curran awards offer up to $6,000 USD to support #19thC periodical research that makes use of print and archival sources. Application guidance here: rs4vp.org/awards/curra...

This looks like a great initiative to produce a collection on the Gothic and pedagogy. If I had the time, I'd certainly contribute. Nevertheless, I look forward to reading the final version in due course.

We've just expanded the catalogue of Xbox games for the Games Lab at my department with a weird (but actually quite good) mix of titles. I'm looking forward to using them in teaching. We are using Xbox because of its backward compatibility, which is very important for historical game studies.

History & Philosophy of Science, Work-in-progress seminars, Autumn 2026-27 All these weekly informal seminars take place in Botany House Room 1.03, Tuesdays 12-1pm during term-time. There is also recurrent TEAMS link here for online/remote participation. Open to all, with an hour for socializing…

October 22nd, save the date, we’re back!! 👻 ⬇️

Exciting job for #envhum postdocs! Project "Tolerating Urban Animals. Techno-moral perspectives on killing and caring for other species" (U Copenhagen) is looking for 2 postdocs to work on use of technologies for managing undomesticated/feral urban animals in 🇩🇰🇸🇪🇳🇴. employment.ku.dk/faculty/?sho...

It has been a labour-intensive year, but I've just submitted the final version of my new book to the press for production. More details to come in due course! 🥳

Academic here, yeah I know it’s September still!

Register below in time for #spookyseason to hear me talk about authors who took literary inspiration from the ghostly world of séances 👻 ⬇️

This looks like a brilliant event with the amazing @dremilyvincent.bsky.social. I'm also a big fan of the William Hope spirit photograph used to advertise it, which is from the National Media Museum's collection.

This looks like an interesting initiative between @bavs-uk.bsky.social and @jofvictculture.bsky.social If you are an ECR looking for some mentorship to help navigate the publishing world, this could be the scheme for you. jvc.oup.com/2026/09/28/j...

I'm starting work on small project about Charles Darwin and his interest in seance phenomena. It should be super fun to write.

Now that we are a few weeks into the new term, this is a routine reminder that we are always looking for new articles on 19th-century topics. If you want to produce a special issue, please consider sending it to @advancesjournal.bsky.social Open Call for Proposals 👇 in-csa.com/themed-speci...

Today I got to talk about The Beatles for nearly two hours with a group of MA students. It doesn't get much better than that. I also put forward a passionate defence of Ringo who is under-appreciated.

This looks like a great online event, which is being organised by Marijke Valk, University of Birmingham Details below 👇 www.bsls.ac.uk/2026/09/bsls... CFP: Occult Science: Disenchantment, Re-Enchantment, and the Persistence of Wonder Deadline: 31 October 2026. 🎃 Event date: 9 January 2027

Over the weekend one of the all-time great punk guitarists Cheetah Chrome from Dead Boys passed away. www.loudersound.com/bands-artist...

Grant application for a major video game project submitted. Not a bad end to the week. Fingers crossed for some success... 🤞

I'm pretty chuffed with my recent haul of books, which link to my current research activities.

I'm happy to share a new 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 for an edited collection on game preservation in Canada, with co-editors @jeanketterling.bsky.social and @videogamehistorian.bsky.social. We welcome essays, material studies, and interviews. Full details at the link below - please share widely!

This semester I'm teaching an MA course on the history of American rock n roll from the 1950s-2000s. I've never been more excited to teach a course. I've spent the last week listening to bangers by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Fats Domino, Big Mama Thornton, Chuck Berry, and others. What a blast!

I fell down a bit of a rabbit hole this morning thinking about the computers we had at school. In Ontario the Ministry commissioned Unisys ICONS (aka Bionic Beavers - genuine nickname) for schools that came pre-loaded with educational games. Did anyone else play Crosscountry Canada?

Here's a fun read about Sonic the Hedgehog turning 35 this year. The article came out yesterday but I'm nerdy enough to know that Sonic 1 was released in June 1991... www.theguardian.com/games/2026/a...

This is a routine reminder that we are always looking for new and innovative research about the 19th century. If you want to produce a special issue, please consider sending it to @advancesjournal.bsky.social Open Call for Proposals 👇 in-csa.com/themed-speci... Please share!

Are you an early career researcher in the humanities and social sciences? Join the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the British Academy Knowledge Frontiers Symposium to network with fellow researchers in an in-person symposium in Bonn, Germany. Apply now: https://bit.ly/4yL3Stm

I am always so chuffed with myself when I write silly names for my meetings. However, I can never remember what they are about which makes prep difficult... 🙃

'Applicants holding the Ph.D. at the time of application must have received the degree after January 1, 2025. Applicants not yet holding the Ph.D. are expected to have completed a substantial portion of the dissertation – at least half – at the time of application.' 4 August deadline.

My referee report for my new book is back and it recommends publication with very minor revisions. Happy days!!!

Just because the big history of science conference is over, does not mean the fun has to stop. Please join @incsa.bsky.social's history of medicine event at the Medical Museion in Copenhagen (20 July 2026). It is free and hybrid! Registration details 👇 eventsignup.ku.dk/medicinemuse...

The party doesn't end in Edinburgh #ESHS-HSS! Join us in Copenhagen, either online or in-person, on Monday 20 July for the conference "Medicine, Museums, and Science Communication in the Nineteenth-Century". We have a wonderful program, and registration is free. eventsignup.ku.dk/medicinemuse...

You might think "hey I *know* the history of mesmerism / animal magnetism" but you don't

“The spirit medium is a curious and unsavoury specimen of natural history, and if you wish to study him, you must take him unawares, as you would any other vermin.... I have done my share of the skunk-hunting; let others follow.” - E Ray Lankester (1885)

Registration is now open for @incsa.bsky.social's satellite conference at the Medical Museion in Copenhagen on 20 July 2026. This is a hybrid event and there is still time to sign up. Full details 👇 eventsignup.ku.dk/medicinemuse...

That awkward moment when the dry run of your 18-minute talk is over 30 minutes...

I am working on my presentation for ESHS/HSS at Edinburgh. I'm going to be discussing the contest for cultural authority in Victorian Britain and the spiritualist press using two well-known stories: the transit of Mrs. Guppy by spirit apport and Henry Slade's alleged exposure and criminal trial.

Full manuscript SUBMITTED!!!

We are approaching conference season and many of us will be organising panels and presenting papers. If you want to produce a special issue based on these activities, please consider sending it to @advancesjournal.bsky.social Open Call for Proposals 👇 in-csa.com/themed-speci... Please share!

Does anyone have digital access to the following chapter? I'd be greatly for a copy. James Secord, “Global Darwin,” in Darwin, ed. William Brown and Andrew C. Fabian, 31-57.

I just got some feedback on my new book manuscript and it is blessedly manageable and insightful. Hopefully the other reviews are similar. Now to wait anxiously for them...

We're hiring a permanent Lecturer in Modern British History at the University of Manchester: www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

I have a full draft of my new book!!! WOOOOOOO!!!!!!